PCOS links to family heart disease

The parents of women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are more likely to have cardiovascular disease than parents of those without PCOS, an Australian study has found.

Researchers analysed family medical histories from more than 700 women born at Adelaide’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital and published results in online journal PLoS ONE.

Mothers of women with PCOS were more likely to have any form of cardiovascular disease and almost twice as likely to have hypertension than mothers of other women.

Fathers of PCOS women were more than twice as likely to have heart disease and more than four times as likely to have a stroke than fathers of other women.

“Our results show there is a strong link between cardiovascular disease in both mother and father and the risk of PCOS in their daughters, and suggests PCOS may be the consequence of a family susceptibility to chronic disease,” said lead author, Associate Professor Michael Davies from the University of Adelaide’s Robinson Institute.